ISSUE 1.39

In the Beginning

This is the great big question--will we ever understand the beginning of the universe? Our theoretical physicists create ideas of the universe so bizarre it makes Hinduism's cosmology seem straightforward and orderly and TIMECUBE like--OK, nevermind, that's still totally out there. But anyway, "[the oldest light in the universe] bore scars from time's violent beginning", and "to build a cosmos, you have to extend your imagination to all of space and all of time", and "there was one electromagnetic source they couldn't identify . . . it seemed to permeate the entire Universe". A good, awe-inspiring longish read.

Here's an interview with the author of Walkaway, a new dystopian novel about, well, very now themes. It sounds familiar. But this is an interesting, fairly short little discourse on how we consider ourselves to be just the people working the system, which is the point--the system, not the people. (But of course, no--it's the people who benefit from the system who are the point. Never forget that.) Instead, the book deals with people who reject the system, go against the grain, and dare to face the world "with clear eyes and open hearts". Which I agree with. Like staring straight into the eclipse. You can't beat me, eclipse!

Thanks to this tweet for being clever enough to make this search, and to Jeremy for being cool enough to forward it to me. Man, I've... I've always liked cyberpunk things. Like, without even realizing it as cyberpunk, as an twelve year old I remember crazy underground scientific bunkers with super complicated password and retinal scanning technology being my jam. Even as an eight year old I played around with the idea of secrecy, with a journal that I intended to keep full of secrets and secret codes, and a monetized token system where you could pay me 50c to disburse a secret. Problem is, I didn't really have any secrets that were worth keeping--I just liked the idea of the system. (Sometimes I wonder if I wouldn't have fit in great at the CIA. I'm glad I went to art school instead. Glitchet is way cooler than the CIA.)

Do you feel yourself falling into the big M I N D S U C C of Twitter, Facebook, reddit, the feed, the algorithm? Look away. A gentle reminder that these things likely give you nothing; you must portion your energy, your attention, to the things that matter to you in your life. Decide to become informed in bursts and spurts; don't stare into the abyss, because the abyss is the entire internet and it wants you to like, retweet, and share its statuses and articles. All of them. Take your time. Breathe. Remember that the blood pumps through your veins, not through the internet. Unless you have a cybernetic arm, in which case, hit me up, please.

Two Aeon articles in a Glitchet?! Yes, because Aeon is amazing! (Please sponsor me. (I have no sponsorship program set up. I cry into the void.)) This one is about the family tree--I mean, the muddy fuckin' evolutionary delta--of human evolution works, showing it to be extraordinarily messy, divergent, with humans coming in and out to mate with one another back and forth throughout history. I mean, it makes sense--a family tree only looks like a tree when you're looking at things from one point of reference. The totality of human genetics must be a shitshow.

Way's Notes

Hi there!

I'm sorry for being a day late. I mismanaged my emotions and my schedule. I'm gonna talk about two things here: my emotions, and the eclipse. I'll bold 'em so you can skip whichever ones you don't care about.

My emotions: navigating the relationship between yourself and others is hard. Navigating the relationship between yourself and yourself in regards to others and others is quite possibly harder. Figuring out how to care about someone, to want someone, while still trying to love them--not a possessive, in-love love, but a wiser, kinder love that bares itself to all you feel goodness toward--for who and where they are is hard. It's a bind when what you want is not always what is good for them, and by extension, may ultimately bad for you. I know, I know--geez, way to vague-end-of-newsletter, Way. I'm sorry. I just have so many feelings and the performative-teaching aspect of my personality demands that I express these ideas to you.

Honestly, I blame meditation. It's made me sensitive and in touch with my feelings. Gross. (I'm kidding. It's great. Is this how emotional people... feel?) Anyway. Sometimes you have to know better than yourself in matters of love, romance, friendship, family. If you're like me, and if you read this newsletter you're probably at least a little like me, you're interested in things most people aren't, and you're seeking things or people that the world has difficulty providing. Because you, through your efforts, become increasingly rarified every day. And when you're a beautiful rare wildebeest, you have to find other beautiful rare wildebeest. (Again, not just people, but ideas, projects, moments, feelings, too.) And you have to decide whether to settle in a light unseriousness, or wait and try to avoid the darkness that creeps over you, telling you it will never come. Patience is difficult, but patience is also powerful. It ultimately comes down to your consistency of character--and whether or not you know better than yourself, because we often tend to try to undo ourselves in one way or another.

More than anything, I've found that life in these waiting moments is about poise. A beautiful, serene look of patience and a self-assured confidence drives the world wild with desire. And sometimes the world still can't give you what you want--so you wait until it does, or you pick the tulips from the shrubbery on the way to the rose garden.

The eclipse: I might be late but at least now I get to talk to you about the eclipse! Man, it was weird. As it was happening, I felt strangely nervous and anxious. A weird feeling in my legs and the pit of my stomach--a general malaise that lasted only during the exactitude of the moon's passing. It was probably a psychosomatic manifestation of my understanding that the sun, in all of its mighty power, could fucking blind me if I just stared at it for too long. (Or, maybe I'm psychic? C'mon. Let me be psychic.) It's a little awe-inspiring, to stand underneath the sun (especially the Texas sun) and feel it suddenly drop 10 degrees and know that that thing up there is lording over you, daring you to be arrogant enough to look at it. Who needs wax wings when you have wax eyeballs (as far as the sun is concerned)? Anyways, I hope you got to check out some of those dope eclipse shadows. Imagine if life were just like that all the time?

Anyways, thanks for your patience and thanks for reading. We can't stare into the sun, but we can stare into each other--and that's pretty close.
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